Malaysians who voted from the UK, Australia and Singapore told FMT they were motivated to make their choices despite the hurdles they faced because they knew it affected their families and friends back home directly.
They suggested that the Election Commission (EC) make the process easier and more transparent and also provide guidance in the casting of ballots, noting that voters had to do most of the work.
A film and media student in Brisbane, Daniel Rahman, 24, said it was “sad to see student organisations and ordinary people step up when the EC should have implemented a proper system”.
Daniel also joined the Malaysia GE15 Overseas Postal Voting FAQ Facebook group where he noticed that several people had complained about their ballots only being delivered on voting day.
“It’s bad for democracy because it’s not their fault that they couldn’t get the ballots (in time),” he said.
Erja Suhaimy, 19, an anatomy and physiology student at Melbourne University, said she was thankful her family back home informed her of the registration deadline for postal voting.
However, she complained that the documents were not in simple Malay and not everyone could understand them.
Kelly Chok, 24, a marketeer in Singapore, said that despite the slow postal voting process, she was moved by the commitment of Malaysian volunteers.
“They had been very helpful and had formed Telegram groups to direct, educate and teach the overseas voters,” she said.
Grace Dagang, 21, of Sarawak, who is the president of the Malaysian Society at the University of Leeds, said it was “daunting” to be responsible for people’s ballots although she was excited about her contribution.
“Being a first-time voter and a postal voter at that is not easy. I was confused and wondered how it (the ballot) would arrive in time in the first place,” said Grace, who was also involved in Vote Malaysia, one of several groups that helped postal voters abroad.
She took the ballots she collected from other Malaysians to Sheffield and handed them over to a representative from London who sent them immediately to Malaysia by air.